


it’s so sweet (knowing you love me)

by uwereamazing



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Tenderness, The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known, and more!, ditching exy practice, neil and his love of fruit, neil wearing a fox beanie, team movie nights, the love languages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 20:44:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20802701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uwereamazing/pseuds/uwereamazing
Summary: andreil as the love languages: a series





	it’s so sweet (knowing you love me)

QUALITY TIME—

Neil stuck his hand out the car window, grinning as the wind kissed his fingertips. He felt Andrew glance at him out of the corner of his eye, hearing his amused huff in response.

“Your hand is going to fall off,” Andrew muttered, his eyes returning to road, own hand relaxed as it traced the steering wheel.

Neil grinned at that. “Unlikely. But I did almost get shot once, leaning out of a car.”

Andrew hummed, fingers tapping on the steering wheel. “Of course you did. You’ve lost the capacity to surprise me.”

“Shut up,” Neil’s laughter was warm. “Where are we headed, captain?”

“Isn’t that your title?”

“Vice-captain,” he corrected easily with a shrug. “Anyway, my question still stands.”

That morning over breakfast, Andrew had plainly suggested that they should go on a drive. Curious, Neil accepted this, assuming that he merely needed to clear his head and escape for a bit. So they had left the dorms, ditching morning practice as well as their classes. 

Now, Andrew squinted through his sunglasses against the glare of the early-morning sun. “We’ll see. I—“

Neil’s phone began to ring in his pocket, interrupting the end of Andrew’s sentence. He fished it out and checked the display name.

“It’s Kevin.” 

Andrew ignored this, likely having guessed this himself. He said dryly, “I’m surprised you had your phone own in the first place.”

“Rude,” Neil retorted, grinning as he answered the call. “Hey, Kev—“

Kevin began talking at once, strident words tumbling over each other in a rush. “Neil, where are you? Morning practice just started and—“

Abruptly, his voice was cut off by an incredibly loud and grating honk, sounding from the car behind Neil and Andrew, the latter having not seen the traffic light turn green. Nonchalant, he stuck his hand out to window to flip them off before stepping on the gas pedal, and Neil burst out laughing.

“Is that— Neil, are you— in the  _Maserati_?” Kevin’s voice pulled Neil’s attention back, his disgust perceptible through the phone. “I know you’re there, Andrew! I can hear evidence of your god-awful driving! Why are you corrupting Neil!”

From beside him, Andrew muttered, “He couldn’t have just texted?”

Neil didn’t have to see Kevin to feel him simmering with indignation. “I heard that. And if I had just texted, I wouldn’t have  _heard_ your attempts at playing hooky!” 

Neil decided to seize the conversation before Kevin became further irritated, sensing that was the path this would go down if Andrew kept talking. 

“Sorry, Kev. We just felt like getting away for a bit,” Neil cut in ruefully. “We’ll be back later for night practice.” 

Biting back his smile, he listened to Kevin noticeably perk up at the mention of night practice, and attempt to hide it by clearing his throat. “Well. Okay. Fine.” 

“Yeah?” Neil asked, smile growing.

“Yes. Ugh.”

Neil couldn’t help his grin. “Sorry, Kevin.”

“Have fun, you hooligans,” Kevin said, long-suffering, and Neil rolled his eyes at his tone. “And don’t forget to be back in time for practice later!”

“ _Bye Kevin,_ ” Neil sung and hung up on the call. He turned off his phone and dropped it into the cup holder, curling up onto the seat again.

Andrew snorted. “He’s secretly loving this. When you’re gone, it means he’s second in charge.” 

Neil laughed, shifting to rest his arm against the open car window once more. “Probably. We should still be back for practice later, anyway,” he glanced over at Andrew’s profile. “You never said where we were going.”

Andrew considered this. “Where did  you want to go?”

He was still focused on the wide, nearly empty road ahead of them. Neil stole a furtive glance at him— entirely at ease and relaxed behind the wheel, fingers drumming an odd rhythm on his jean-covered thigh, oversized sunglasses resting delicately on his face— and had the sudden thought that he didn’t care where they went, as long as Andrew was with him.

“I don’t mind,” Neil finally said once he could speak again. “Take me anywhere.”

Andrew spared him a gentle glance, and Neil wondered if his own thoughts were that visible for him to see. If Andrew was the only person in this world who could read him that well.

After a brief second of hesitation, Andrew lifted his palm from his thigh and casually held it out between them, in an offering of sorts. Neil took his hand, slipping his fingers between Andrew’s, and squeezed. 

His lips tugging up slightly, Andrew turned his attention to the road ahead once more. “You’re disgustingly sappy.”

Neil hummed. “But you like it anyway.”

“Is that so?” 

“You love it,” he amended with a teasing smile, feeling a wave of pleasure as he watched Andrew make the decision to steadfastly ignore his statement.

Neil brought their intertwined hands up before intentionally pressing a tiny kiss to the back of Andrew’s hand then holding it against his own smiling cheek.

“Gross,” Andrew muttered, though Neil noticed he made no effort to pull his hand away. 

With a easy spill of laughter, he let Andrew’s hand go and tucked his own legs under himself. Sounding pleased, he said, “Now, if you don’t mind.”

In the space of a few moments, he was upright, almost kneeling in his seat.

“Neil, I swear—”

Neil unceremoniously stuck his head out the window, grinning at the feeling of the wind messily tossing his floppy fringe about. Behind him, Andrew murmured  _idiot_ in the fondest voice as Neil closed his eyes delicately, tilting his face up to the clear, perfect sky.

GIFTS—

Neil carefully opened the door to the girls’ dorm, allowing the slightest crack so he could tiptoe through. The room was darkened and smelling vaguely of popcorn, a movie already playing on the screen. His teammates were sprawled inelegantly over the mismatched collection of sofas and armchairs; Neil hoped they were too engrossed in the movie to notice his arrival. 

“_Neil_, you’re here!” Nicky crowed, glancing up and brightening. “I was starting to— oh my god.” 

This effectively seized the rest of the Foxes’ attention, murdering any future possibility of subtlety. 

Allison swiftly snatched the remote off the glass coffee table to pause the movie, as Matt let out a surprised, joyful exclamation before clasping his hands over his mouth. 

“Hey guys,” Neil gave an awkward smile and situated himself onto one of the sofas, in between Andrew and a snoozing Kevin. 

He was hyper-aware of the several pairs of eyes on him, not hating it at all but still largely unaccustomed to the eager attention his teammates were insistent on giving him. Despite this, Neil only had eyes for Andrew, whose expression had turned curiously stiff, warring between surprise and pleasure.

“Neil, are we going to discuss this, like, at all?” Allison waved a hand over Neil’s appearance, looking on the verge of pissing herself from excitement.

“Oh, you mean this?” Neil reached up and tugged on his beanie lightly.

In many respects, it was a normal beanie, pale orange and soft wool. Perhaps he could have passed through without receiving any comments— if not for the stylised fox eyes and nose, along with the tiny ears that stuck out of it.

Neil had come back to the dorm to find the beanie lying mysteriously on his bed, baring no note of explanation. Andrew was nowhere to be found, having already gone down to the girls’ dorm with Kevin, and so, he had swiftly deduced that Andrew had gotten it for him. It was endearingly stupid and Neil loved it. 

“You look very sweet, Neil,” said Renee, who was tangled with Allison in a way that hurt his brain to work out.

Aaron snorted. “I think he looks like a furry.” 

Neil made a face at him as the rest of his teammates responded with varied exclamations, booing and cackling (Allison). Aaron flipped Neil off, who rolled his eyes in return. 

“Where did you even get it from?” Matt finally piped up. With a gasp, he added, “Bro, do you think we can be matching?” 

Neil bit his lip to stop from laughing. He offered vaguely, “Oh, it was a gift.” 

He was sure his teammates could piece the rest together, especially when Andrew chose to poke his side in retaliation, and yet, he was thankful when none of them commented on it. Perhaps they sensed they were in imminent danger of receiving a stab wound if they did.

Allison looked sorely tempted to say something, no doubt a snarky remark, but Neil raised a brow at her and she rolled her eyes and obediently pressed play on the remote. 

And with that, the Foxes’ attention drifted off Neil and his odd beanie. He turned to Andrew again, smile growing when Andrew lightly tugged on a few wildly stubborn strands of his hair that refused to be contained by the hat.

“It clashes with your hair,” said Andrew grumpily. 

Neil grinned. “I’m never taking it off.” 

“Oh?” Andrew raised his brows, voice wry. “I’d imagine that they wouldn’t let you on court with that on your head. Kevin wouldn’t, for starters.” 

“It would be hidden under my helmet, obviously.”

Andrew shot him a look that would have been deeply unimpressed, if not for the slight twitch of his lips. 

“You are an idiot, Neil Josten.”

Neil smiled at him, soft and unbidden, an entire world of understanding, of gratefulness, in the brief look he shared with Andrew.

Begrudgingly, Andrew put up with this for a few seconds, before using a gentle finger to turn Neil’s cheek away so he faced the movie. He murmured, “Pay attention.”

Neil rolled his eyes but accepted this, letting his hand come up to tangle with Andrew’s fingers and squeezing, before dropping them and obediently turning to the front.

ACTS OF SERVICE—

Neil absently ran a hand through his messy hair and leaned back in his chair. On his laptop, his half-finished assignment seemed to mock him with a depressingly blank page. With a pitiful groan, he leaned forwards and continued to painstakingly work on it, resenting his past self for leaving it this late.

“Drama queen,” muttered Andrew from the sofa, causing Neil to glance up.

Neil couldn’t see him over the back of it, but he knew that Andrew’s mouth was set in that odd, hard line— a small tell he had come to recognise as wry amusement. On the television, a late-night game show played, barely audible, and he also knew that Andrew intentionally watched these shows because he nearly always seemed to know the answers (which greatly satisfied him, even if he didn’t want to admit it).

“Not my fault this assignment sucks,” Neil shot back, gladly taking any opportunity to avoid doing his work. 

Andrew pulled himself up, meeting his eyes over the sofa and responding easily, “Not my fault you left it until the night before.” 

He cracked a smile at that as Andrew got up, watching with great interest when he pushed his glasses up, so that they rested in his ridiculous, dishevelled curls. Andrew went to grab the remote off the coffee table, presumably to turn the television off, but at the last minute, he stopped himself and straightened.

“Where are you going?” Neil asked mournfully.

Andrew raised his brow. “To sleep. You need to finish your assignment.” 

“Not my fault you’re too distracting—“ Neil began teasingly, as Andrew’s expression became unimpressed.

“Shut up. I knew you’d say that.”

Neil hummed, shooting him a sweet smile.

“Do your work, shithead,” Andrew scowled. 

Neil restrained his pout. “I’m hungry.” 

“Neil.” 

“_Fine_, I’ll do my work,” he sighed long-sufferingly, but he could feel himself smiling. “But keep the TV on, I like—“

“The background noise, I know, idiot,” Andrew finished for him, though his voice was soft. “Night.” 

“Goodnight, Andrew,” Neil replied, feeling warm. He watched Andrew leave, unable to hold back his smile. 

With a curiously half-aborted movement, Andrew turned into the kitchen instead of the bedroom, but Neil shrugged, writing it off as Andrew simply wanting hot chocolate or tea before bed.

Neil worked steadily on his assignment for a few more minutes, determined to get it finished and strangely buoyed by Andrew’s thoughtfulness. He barely registered the sound of Andrew’s movements in the kitchen, nor did he pay attention when Andrew came back into the living room, several minutes later.

He only looked up when Andrew lightly set down a bowl next to him, the action finally grabbing ahold of his attention. Neil sent Andrew a polite, inquisitive look, taking a second to study the defiant expression he wore. Then he glanced down.

The bowl held a mixture of neatly sliced bright fruits— berries and mangoes and kiwis. His favourites, he realised as his stomach performed a funny, little jolt. 

“Oh,” Neil said nonsensically, attempting to stifle his fond smile and failing spectacularly. He tilted his face up at Andrew, whose ears had become vaguely pink. “Thank you.”

He watched Andrew struggle with those words for a moment, as if he received a gift he liked very much but was unsure how to react to it. Then it passed, and Andrew finally settled on rolling his eyes. 

Despite his sarcasm, his gaze was warm when he said, “Can you you finish your assignment now?“

Neil pretended to think about it, and forced out a “...maybe.”

Andrew’s mouth became unwillingly amused, his lips giving into that hard line. “That doesn’t seem very convincing.”

With a burst of laughter, Neil used the fork to stab half a strawberry and turned back to his laptop, feeling impossibly lighter. Andrew obediently took this as a sign to finally retreat into the bedroom. As he passed, he gave Neil’s shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze. 

Neil shut his eyes against the wave of warmth that overwhelmed him at that simple gesture. Feeling himself smiling, he murmured, “Night, ‘Drew.”

“Don’t stay up too late,” was all Andrew said, voice gentle, before the door closed softly behind him.

PHYSICAL TOUCH— 

Neil trudged into the dorm and made an instant beeline to the bedroom. He was tired and utterly fed up, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for a few hours.

Carelessly, he kicked his sneakers off before dumping his backpack onto the floor outside the bedroom. With more force than was strictly necessary, he tugged the door open then pushed through the doorway—

Neil came to an abrupt stop when he saw Andrew reclining on his bunk, hand curling around the spine of a book.

Andrew glanced up as Neil stilled, hoping his tantrum hadn’t been heard. Carefully, Andrew studied his expression, taking in the wrinkle between Neil’s brows, the tension in his jaw.

“Bad day?” asked Andrew, sounding as close to genuine as he could get.

With a sigh, Neil sunk into the foot of the bed; he had been forced to deal with awful, invasive questions from idiots in his classes. The encounter had him feeling rubbed raw, wearing an anger that felt too big, too tight for his skin.

He didn’t say anything in response, giving Andrew a nod instead. They could talk about it later, when Neil felt less like a ticking time bomb.

Andrew considered this, with a searching look in Neil’s direction, brows lightly furrowed. He seemed to have made up his mind when he placed his book beside him and gently extended a hand to Neil, murmuring, “Come on.”

Clumsily, Neil crawled across the bed, over Andrew’s legs. With an easy, practised movement, Andrew lifted an arm to accomodate him as Neil tucked himself in beside him. 

Neil paused, holding himself an inch away. “Are you sure?”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “_Yes,_ Neil, come here.”

He cradled a hand around Neil’s head, fingers burying in his mess of hair, and gently brought it down to lie against his chest. The rest of Neil’s body fell into place, melding against Andrew, his arm coming up and over Andrew’s body.

From this position, Neil could glance up through his eyelashes at Andrew’s handsome face and feel the steady, reassuring thump of his heart. He briefly closed his eyelids, taking a moment to breathe and feel his heartbeat align with Andrew’s.

“Okay?” murmured Andrew. His collected, even voice felt like a balm to Neil’s unsteady emotions.

Neil sighed quietly. “Yeah.”

His eyes fluttered open when Andrew’s hand lightly cupped his neck, in the barest touch, thumb sweeping gently over Neil’s cheek. 

“Can I....” Andrew trailed off and swallowed. Neil nodded his assent.

With the slightest movement, Andrew pressed a tiny kiss to Neil’s forehead, once, twice, then softly brushed his fingertips over Neil’s cheek for good measure.

Neil felt his stomach clench at the tenderness of the gesture, almost unable to bear it. 

He was still replaying the moment in his head as Andrew picked up his discarded book, returning to where he left off. Smoothly, he curled one hand around the book and rested the other in Neil’s hair. Neil fought the urge to lean into his touch. 

They remained like that, Andrew quietly reading, fingers softly, absentmindedly combing through Neil’s hair. He occasionally moved to turn the page before his hand returned to its spot, which made Neil hide a smile in the fabric of Andrew’s shirt each time. 

Neil stayed curled against Andrew, face tucked against the expanse of his chest. Through hazy eyelids, he caught snippets of sentences and fragments from Andrew’s book, but he was simply content to lay there and let his thoughts flit away, warmed by Andrew’s presence and comforted by Andrew’s heartbeat, distant and reassuring— until his eyelids began to feel heavy and he gave into the gentle tug of sleep.

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION— 

The roof was quiet and empty as always, the late-winter air around them cool and strangely crisp. Above, the stars peeked out from behind the dark billow of clouds. Neil lazily gazed up at them, his head resting on Andrew’s lap. The cold breeze barely crossed his mind; in his pleasantly tipsy state, he thought this was the coziest he’d ever felt.

He still didn’t drink often, but he had begun to like the floaty warmth alcohol seemed to lend him and the relaxation of it. Now, he basked in the mellow feeling, grounded by Andrew’s presence. He could feel his own cheeks had flushed pink; upon registering this thought, Neil brought up a hand to feel his warm face.

Andrew shifted and glanced down, expression turning amused. “How much have you had to drink?”

Neil squinted up at him through his eyelashes, “Not that much, I think.”

“Good thing I dragged you away from the party, then,” Andrew said, reaching to card his fingers through Neil’s hair.

Turning his gaze toward the sky again, Neil gave a little laugh. “Yeah... thank you for doing that.” 

“For what?”

Neil’s eyes were studying the dark expanse above them, smiling slightly to himself.

“Neil,” Andrew murmured, and Neil glanced up to see his lips quirking slightly. “For doing what?”

Clumsily, he sat up so he could face Andrew, mirroring him. His expression was earnest, sincere, intensified by his tipsy state.

“I mean you just... know me,” Neil said simply. His voice carried an easy conviction, like he was explaining a concept Andrew should have grasped by now.

Andrew tilted his head, the breeze whipping his curls around. His features were stubbornly set, daring Neil to continue yet almost fearing what he might say. “What do you mean by that?” 

“Like, yeah the party was fun, but  _you_ knew when I’d had enough. Before  _I_ even knew I wanted to leave. You just know me more than anyone—“

Andrew cut him off, eyes narrowed. “You’re drunk.” 

“Not drunk enough to not know what I’m saying,” Neil sent him a rueful smile. 

“I’ll push you off this ledge anyway,” Andrew threatened, ears tinted faintly pink.

“And I’ll drag you—“

“Shut up.”

Neil gave a bashful grin and continued, tone painfully earnest once more. “No, I mean it, Andrew. You just... know me. More than I know myself, and you make me like— being me. I like being a person and I like this thing with you, because I feel understood. There is no one else like you.”

Andrew became utterly still. He seemed unable to tear his eyes away from Neil’s.

In the living silence between them,  Neil became suddenly aware of the murmur of the late-winter breeze, the intermittent rumble of cars below, and yet, he kept his eyes on Andrew’s, some fierce thing beginning to unravel in his gaze. Beneath the messy tangle of terrible longing, disbelief, devotion and awe, Neil glimpsed that dark, familiar look— one he had seen a million times before. A look that spoke of perfect understanding. 

“Neil?” Andrew’s voice hung in the air, honest and stripped-bare. Pressing his lips together, he glanced ahead, gazing out at the lights below, avoiding Neil’s eyes. He was content to wait it out, to watch patiently as Andrew steadily tested his words, searching for the right ones.

Then, he finally murmured, “This was never nothing.” 

Neil barely restrained his soft  _oh_, suddenly, impossibly warmed inside and out. Unquestionably, some part of him had always known it, deep down, but hearing Andrew confess this was another thing entirely. A stupidly adoring smile graced his lips, as Andrew faced him at last, wearing his typical stubbornness.

He made a face and swatted at Neil. “Gross. Don’t look at me like that.” 

“I can’t help it,” Neil batted his hand away, grinning.

He received an eye roll in response. “Yes or no?”

“ _Yes.”_

Leaning forward on his knees, he met Neil in an unexpectedly slow and sweet kiss, a careful hand coming up to cup his cheek. Sighing, Neil softened into it, allowing himself to be kissed until he was weak and jelly-limbed, his thoughts drifting into pleasant incoherency. 

Andrew pulled away gently. With a tiny sigh, Neil flopped backward onto the cool concrete. He closed his eyelids and burned with a quiet happiness, feeling that mellow warmth envelop him once more. 

Andrew tolerated this for about a minute, before gently poking Neil’s cheek to get his attention. “Come on, it’s getting cold.” 

Neil opened his eyes to find Andrew standing, fond amusement tugging at his lips. Offering a soft smile in return and holding an arm out, Neil let himself be clumsily helped off the ground.

Once upright, Andrew led him to the door, quietly twining their fingers together. He didn’t let go until they reached their dorm.

**Author's Note:**

> howdy! my sincerest apologies that i havent posted anything in a while. also terribly sorry that this is just a collection of completely plotless, self-indulgent ramblings. having a coherent storyline? it couldnt be me!
> 
> anyway thank you 4 stopping by and reading.... if you’d like to, leave a kudos/comment! 
> 
> you can find me on tumblr @rikohateclub :•)


End file.
